China's current Foreign Trade Law, passed in May 1994, is
expected to be amended drastically in line with the new situation
and demands following China's entry into the World Trade
Organization (WTO) in 2001.
Since the current Foreign Trade Law cannot completely meet the
new situation of China's foreign trade, it is necessary to amend
it, said Vice Commerce Minister Yu Guangzhou at the opening meeting
Monday of the sixth session of the Standing Committee of the 10th
National People's Congress, which runs from Dec. 22 to 27.
Yu said China has changed some related laws and regulations in
line with the agreement between China and the WTO after China's
accession to the WTO, but still faces tasks to finish the process
through amending the Foreign Trade Law, Chinese basic law on
foreign trade.
Individuals can also be operators of foreign trade, and some
restrictive qualifications on foreign trade operators will be
removed, under the submitted draft.
The other reason to amend the law is to protect China's related
industries and market in accordance with the WTO provisions, so
that China can make good use of the anti-subsidy, anti-dumping and
other relief measures to protect possible victims among Chinese
industries, said Yu.
The draft adds two chapters on protection of intellectual
property and foreign trade investigations, respectively, and some
provisions about restriction on imports and exports, safety
exceptions and others.
In order to respond promptly to sudden changes in foreign trade
and provide better service to the operators, the draft also
suggests establishing an early-warning system, a public information
service system, a statistics mechanism and publicity about illegal
operations.
Compared with the only punishment in the current law --
withdrawal of operation credit -- the draft strengthens sanctions
against illegal operations through adopting more severe
punishments, from criminal penalties to administrative penalties
and abolition of operators' qualifications.
The draft will be discussed at group meetings in the next few
days, and is expected to be passed next year.
(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2003)